


the in-between times

by theprimrosepath



Category: Skyward - Brandon Sanderson
Genre: Developing Relationship, F/M, Fluff and Humor, Friendship, Gen, Team as Family, during the 6mo gap between skyward and starsight
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-12
Updated: 2019-04-12
Packaged: 2020-01-12 02:22:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,073
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18437042
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theprimrosepath/pseuds/theprimrosepath
Summary: Location: the restaurant at Alta. Event: their late-night meetup they’d decided to arrange every two weeks. Jorgen’s status: seriously distracted by his half-empty basket of algae fries.In which Skyward Flight is a family, and that includes conspiracy to set up your friends.





	the in-between times

**Author's Note:**

> we post fic fresh off the griddle and unedited like ADULTS.
> 
> (you know that feeling when you finished a book so good that it keeps banging around in your skull for days afterward? that's why this exists.)

Kimmalyn loved them, but at this point, she was ready to stop blessing their stars and start _shoving_ them together instead.

Everyone at the table had an eye on what was happening—since, as the Saint liked to say, your family were those who could see your heart and still love it. Skyward Flight was a family. And all of them had a keen interest in the sweetest, funniest, and most _frustrating_ state of events that could’ve involved two of their beloveds’ hearts.

Location: the restaurant at Alta. Event: their late-night meetup they’d decided to arrange every two weeks. Jorgen’s status: seriously distracted by his half-empty basket of algae fries.

Not because he wanted to eat them. Actually, he didn’t even like fried algae that much. No, it was because he was multitasking—between looking at the fries, talking to Arturo about something grossly esoteric ( _if you don’t know what to say, don’t pretend you do,_ as everyone else besides Nedd was adhering to), and engaging in split-second staredowns with Spensa.

Kimmalyn pretended to listen and pick intently at her algae salad as she watched Jorgen’s gaze focus on Arturo’s gestures for _just_ too long. She blinked. And a fry disappeared from his basket.

She glanced over and saw Spensa swallow. Spensa’s hands were quicker than her Ahlstrom loops.

Barely audible was a snicker. Nedd had seen, too.

Just like that, Jorgen spun to glower at Spin. “Stop stealing all my fries,” he snapped, and everyone burst into laughter. The tact they did have kept them from bringing up the soft humor in Jorgen’s own eyes—a barely suppressed smile, for sure.

“It’s not as if you’re eating them,” FM pointed out.

“Yeah.” Spensa’s eyes didn’t leave Jorgen’s as she reached for another fry and popped it into her mouth. Her next words were a bit muffled as she chewed, still staring. “We upper cavern folk know not to waste food like you rich, privileged deep caverners.”

A grinning FM raised a hand, and Spensa didn’t even look as she high-fived it.

Jorgen rolled his eyes to the ceiling, a bit of pink to his cheeks, and pushed the basket toward her. “Fine, take it. I’ll just get something else—”

Spensa shoveled the remaining fries into her mouth faster than a scout could cry _Krell_.

The table exploded into laughter again as Jorgen spluttered, “—to… eat. Spin, how… what.”

“You should’ve seen her the first time we got her here,” Arturo said. “Two whole baskets vanished down her gullet faster than she could chew, like she was a starving rat.”

“Starving rats were all she was consuming then,” FM said.

“And mushrooms. Don’t forget the cave mushrooms,” Spensa added as she swallowed. “At that point I’d forgotten what salt was.”

Oh, Kimmalyn loved them so. She hoped their diverging paths would never take them too far from each other. She wanted to keep doing this for a long time. “Well, as the Saint would say, enjoy your blessings to the fullest. But never resent the curses when they make the former so much sweeter.”

“Eat only rat jerky for the next six months,” Spensa said, “and try saying that again.”

“Oh, no, thank you.”

They snickered.

Jorgen stood up from his seat to go order food, and Spensa stood up with him with twinkling eyes and a straight face. “You need to buy me some fries,” she informed him.

“What? You just ate mine!”

“Yeah, they were _yours_. I haven’t had dinner yet. I can’t just eat a single basket of stolen fries.“

“You’re a DDF pilot, Spin,” Jorgen said. “You can literally buy your own fries.”

“Blah, blah. Excuses, excuses.” Spensa grabbed his arm and hauled him away toward the counter. Based on the cracking of Jorgen’s stern facade—and the lingering blush to his face as Spensa continued to hold his arm while they talked to the servicer—he didn’t look all that distraught by this turn of events.

Kimmalyn leaned in toward the rest of the very knowing table. “Can we please come out and say something?”

“Wow, Quirk. Where did all that Saint talk go?” Nedd asked.

“This does _not_ count as a curse. It’s like they don’t even realize how much they like each other!”

“To be honest, I don’t think they do,” FM said. “Both of them are such workaholics—to no fault of their own, of course. Difficult to be anything else in our culture. They’re likely so preoccupied by their schedules and their mutual respect and admiration that they haven’t noticed the _affection_.”

“Bless their stars,” Kimmalyn said, “but I am going to tear my own hair out.”

Arturo gestured for the rest of them to lean in. When they did, he whispered conspiratorially, “How about this. He, Nedd, and I still run in close circles down in the deep caverns. I’ll try suggesting to him that he bring along Spensa to some things—he won’t suspect a thing when I explain how much of a good idea it is, considering M-Bot and her new political importance.”

By the stars. _Yes_. “Arturo, bless you, that’s _perfect_.”

“Especially since Jorgen’s going to be pulled out in a few months for sure,” Nedd added quietly. “They’ll need a good pre-established foundation if they want to stay in contact easily.“

The unspoken truth. They all exchanged frowns and furrowed brows.

“They’re returning,” FM said.

They jolted back into their original positions as Jorgen and Spensa sidled up to the table with a fresh basket of fried algae and algae patties. Spensa wasn’t holding Jorgen’s arm anymore, sadly. The two of them studied the rest of the table suspiciously as they sat.

“Something happen?” Jorgen asked.

“We were making fun of the grease stain on your shirt,” Nedd said easily.

What? Kimmalyn laughed in surprise as she saw that it was true—Jorgen looked down and hissed in irritation as he lifted an arm to reveal a grease stain on the lower side of his sleeve. Nedd was blessedly quick on the uptake.

She glanced at Arturo while everyone was distracted by Jorgen’s grousing.

Arturo winked and held up a thumbs-up. Kimmalyn grinned.

Perhaps the Saint would tell her to have some patience—in fact, She most assuredly would. But when it came to Skyward Flight? Bless her stars if she didn’t want to see them happy when only the stars knew how much time they had left together.

**Author's Note:**

> find me at [@primrose-path-of-dalliance](https://primrose-path-of-dalliance.tumblr.com) on tumblr, where i post fandom things and the occasional bit of writing.


End file.
